In the absence of bees, there would be no honey, no blossoms, and, as a result, no nougat at Christmas. Between Monday, March 10th, and April 15th, over 2,800 schoolchildren from 50 educational centres, organised into 86 groups of preschool, primary, and secondary school, will engage in an awareness campaign regarding the significance and protection of pollinating insects. This initiative is motivated by the significance of these small animals. Urban Environment Observatory of the Department of Environmental Sustainability, led by Manuel Villar, is responsible for the organisation of this initiative.

This activity will provide children with an understanding of the significance of these species, particularly bees, in maintaining the equilibrium of the environment. They guarantee the production of fruits, vegetables, and seeds by facilitating the growth of numerous plants and crops through pollination. Biodiversity and food security would be significantly compromised in their absence. Consequently, the city council is of the opinion that it is “fundamental to convey this message to schools, thereby raising awareness of their significance and the necessary measures to safeguard them.”

The El Rincón de la Abeja Association’s team of educators implemented the campaign, which was organised by the Municipal Department of Environmental Education of the Environmental Service. In order to ascertain which activities are most appropriate for each grade level, this organisation reached out to each school. The activity can be arranged in either one hour or one and a half hours, with the option of combining multiple activities or restricting it to the one that was initially selected by the target group, depending on our requirements.

Activities customised for preschool, primary, and secondary education

One of the Early Childhood Education activities is the narrative activity “Bees and Flowers,” which is a delightful activity that features music and scenery and depicts the life of a bee as it searches for a honey flower. Crafts, relaxation activities, and other activities, such as “The Bee Dance,” which entails the performance of the unique dance that bees perform to communicate information to the rest of the hive, are also available at this level.

In addition to educational content with audiovisual support, the “observation hive” is utilised for primary and secondary school groups. This experience provides a unique opportunity to interact with bees, including the ability to feel the vibrations, observe the bees’ movements, and observe their communication. Additionally, there is the “insect hotel,” which is constructed using recycled materials and features observation of its inhabitants.

The campaign was initiated as a result of the “Pollinators in the City of Alicante” workshop, which concluded with its fourth and final session in December at the Urban Environment Observatory, as well as its educational and environmental value. The objective of this event is to establish a connection between society and urban biodiversity.

This initiative was the outcome of a partnership between the University of Alicante, the Alicante City Council, and the El Rincón de la Abeja Association, and it was in accordance with the European 2030 objectives for sustainability and conservation. The symposium was instrumental in the future preservation of these urban species by providing information on pollinator mapping in various regions of Alicante. The opportunity to participate in a collaborative initiative that emphasises the significance of environmental preservation allowed participants to broaden their understanding of the identification and protection of urban pollinators.

Two Benidorm Local Police officers are scheduled to be tried by the First Section of the Alicante Provincial Court on Tuesday. They are accused of humiliating and belittling a trans woman due to her sexual identity while on duty and commuting in a police vehicle. The Prosecutor’s Office is provisionally requesting a penitentiary sentence of two years and two months for each of the defendants in connection with an alleged hate crime.

The incident took place on May 1st, 2020, during the quarantine in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It garnered substantial media attention after a video was shared on social media, purportedly from within the police vehicle.

In those images, one of the police officers is observed speaking to a pedestrian on the street from the passenger seat: “I am being serious.” You are even more unattractive during the day. You are exceedingly unpleasant. What are you currently engaged in, given that you are unable to engage in sexual activity or to steal? What is your current living situation? What are you doing now, if you used to only get seduced a few times, because you are so unattractive?

No, I did not report you; I informed you of this recently. He states, “You are not permitted to be in this area,” while his colleague, who is purportedly documenting the video and operating the vehicle, responds, “No, no, we must report her.” The other officer instructs the victim, “Depart, you pig.” Benidorm City Council provisionally suspended both officers, and one of them was arrested.

The prosecution’s narrative is that one of the defendants captured the incident on his phone and subsequently transmitted it to a colleague, who subsequently shared it with a WhatsApp group of colleagues. Additionally, one of them uploaded the footage to YouTube.

Copyright: YouTube

In 2024, the province of Alicante’s Emergency Information and Coordination Centre (CICU) received 259,869 calls from residents seeking emergency assistance or medical attention. This number supplements the 350,958 in Valencia and 79,529 in Castellón that are managed by this agency, which answers to the Ministry of Health. In the Valencian Community, around 690,356 calls were received overall.

The CICU reports that 237,515 calls, or 34.4% of the total, were for a health emergency, and 102,464 calls, or 14.8% of the total, were for a medical emergency. Additionally, 181,549 calls, or 26.2%, were for urgent unsupported and secondary medical transport (between hospitals), and 10.9% of calls were for medical consultations, precisely 75,537. The remaining 101,928 calls, or 14.7% of the total, were related to alerts or consultations on incidents of some kind.

As a result, the number of calls received at the CICUs has increased by 2.4% in comparison to the prior year. Of the 637,756 calls in 2023, 342,641 were for incidents in Valencia, 249,313 in Alicante, and 81,802 in Castellón, according to the data.

Similarly, in 2024, there were an average of 1,886 calls per day in the CICUs, compared to 1,846 calls per day on average in 2023.

In order to address any urgent or emergency health situation that may arise in the Valencian Community, the Department of Health’s Emergency Information and Coordination Centres are manned by medical coordinators, nursing staff, announcers, and health documentation technicians around-the-clock, every day of the year.

Everyday medical transportation

In order to provide medical transport in response to these emergency requests, the Autonomous Community’s emergency medical trucks were frequently called upon. In actuality, the province of Alicante performed 144,933 services.

Overall, 398,672 transfers were made across the three provinces. In addition to those in Alicante, there are 56,344 in Castellón and 197,395 in Valencia. This averages 1,089 transfers per day. When an emergency occurs, the CICU requests the mobilization of the most appropriate healthcare resource based on the type of emergency, taking into account the priority of the call or the underlying pathology. Thus, for emergency care, the Emergency Medical Assistance Service (SAMU) units performed 68,794 services, representing 188 daily mobilizations.

The Nursing Advanced Life Support (ALS) vehicles performed 5,376 operations, with an average of 15 daily services. For their part, Basic Life Support (BLS) units performed 288,449 calls throughout the year, with an average of 788 calls per day. And in the case of non-assisted transport ambulances, which typically transport patients, they performed 36,053 calls, representing an average of 99 calls per day.

Tips in case of an emergency

The CICU has reminded everyone that in the event of any medical emergency, the emergency number 112 must be called immediately. They insist that it is essential to remain calm and respond quickly and concisely to the brief questionnaire provided by the operators to ensure optimal management of the call. It is also important to provide the precise address of the location of the emergency, indicate the sex and approximate age of each patient, as well as any other known information (illnesses or medical history) in order to facilitate medical care.